It's Going Down
by slstrow
Summary: Katniss is dragged on a Spring Break trip with Johanna and Delly. Between the sun and the sand, things get steamy.
1. Part One

It's Going Down

My name is Katniss Everdeen and I live a boring life as a college freshman. I came to Duke University in the fall and since then not much has happened. I got a new roommate, Johanna Mason, but that was about as exciting as it's gotten, at least until now. My classmate from high school Delly Cartwright also came to Duke and she has been bugging Johanna and I to take a trip with her for spring break. Delly would never tell us exactly where she wanted to go but after she told us that her dad would pay for the trip we couldn't really refuse going.

Johanna and I are both at Duke on scholarships so we spend most of our time in the library studying, whereas Delly is all about the social part of college, partying every weekend, drinking out of Solo cups and playing endless games of Beer Pong. With that in mind I guess it's my fault for thinking she wouldn't take us to the most popular Spring Break destination in the United States: Panama City Beach, Florida. And that's where you'll find me now, arriving at our extravagant beachfront hotel and unloading Delly's little white Mazda that we drove all the way here from North Carolina. We woke up before the sun was up this morning and loaded into the car and began our trip. Between the three of us the 10-hour drive was easy since we took turns driving but by the end of it we were all exhausted.

You would think that driving all that way would be the cause of our exhaustion, but no, it was Delly's music rule. Whoever is driving, gets to pick the music. In theory, this wasn't really a problem when Johanna or I were driving, we both like the same kind of music but when Delly was driving we were forced to listen to, as she put it, "music to get us into the spirit of PCB". Delly's playlist included everything from Pitbull, Ke$ha, and Jason Derulo to Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and the soundtrack to Wicked. The first few hours of her driving weren't too bad. I could read, and Johanna is pretty good at tuning out things she doesn't want to hear. But it wasn't until Johanna or I would start driving did it get unbearable. When I would drive I would put on Mumford &amp; Sons or Old Crow Medicine Show, calming bluegrass, but after about 20 minutes of my music Delly would insist that she was good to drive and that she could take over. I knew she just wanted to listen to her music again so I gave into her whining and let her music play. Johanna wasn't so easily swayed when it came to her music. When she drove, Johanna played her music so loud that she couldn't hear Delly's complaints. And when Delly would try to turn down the volume, Johanna would slap Delly's hand off the radio. This made for some very tense miles. It became very clear that Johanna did NOT want to be on this trip but I also knew that she came for me.

Johanna and I had gotten close as roommates and as friends throughout the school year. We are both pre-med students and the coursework is intense so we established a strong bond through complaining about our professors and the life of a pre-med student. We have different goals with our pre-med dreams, I want to be a doctor in a hospital, my mom is a nurse back home and watching her over the years inspired me to help those around me. Johanna wants to be a researcher only, no human contact other than what's necessary. So even though she really doesn't like hanging around people she doesn't know or like, Johanna came to Florida because she knew I'd need someone to hang out with when Delly abandon's us for this first frat boy that walks her way.

Now that we have finally arrived and survived the drive, Delly has checked us into our room and as we ride the elevator up to our floor she begins to lie out the plans for the week. "Right now I wouldn't mind taking a nap but after that I insist we head to the beach. We can grab food from the hotel café downstairs and take it out for a beach picnic. How does that sound, girls?" Delly asks and Johanna and I just grunt our agreement because we are too tired to even speak. As soon as we get to our room Johanna and I crash on one of the Queen sized beds and sleep for what seemed like days but in reality was more like an hour and a half. When I woke up from the nap I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 4:30pm. I decided now would be a good time to slip into the bathroom and freshen up a bit and put on my bikini. Delly insisted that Johanna and I each get new bathing suits even though mine was a perfectly fine one piece. I slip on my new bikini and almost shriek at the image in the mirror, as I don't even recognize myself. It's a stringy little thing with some crazy "tribal print" as Delly put it. As I exit the bathroom I see that Delly is all set to go out to the beach and Johanna is waiting for the bathroom herself. "Ow ow!" Delly shouts. "Look at you Kat. I told you that bikini would look fabulous on you!"

We make our way out of the hotel, sandwiches in hand, and head toward the beach. I look to the right and see a fairly empty spot on the sand. "Let's head over here. There seems to be less action." I say to the other two. Delly gives me a face that tells me she wants to be near the other people so with a sigh but without protest I follow her toward the water. When we finally reach a spot Delly deems acceptable I spread my towel out on the sand, sit down and begin eating my sandwich. Johanna follows suit but it's Delly who wanders off toward a group of young men playing Frisbee a few feet away from us. I just shake my head at Johanna and we both silently agree to stay put and relax.

I lay under the afternoon sun for a while before realizing I'm terribly thirsty. I look around to see if there are any shops nearby where I can buy some water. A little ways down the beach is a small surf shop that looks to still be open. I nudge Johanna and ask "Hey I'm going to that shop over there to get a drink, do you want anything?" She just shakes her head no at me and returns to her position on the sand. I have learned in our time as roommates that Johanna is not much of a talker. If she can answer a question with a facial expression or a nod of the head she is much happier than having to give a long-winded explanation.

Once I get to the front door of the shop I notice two guys about my age working the counter. I walk through the door and find the cooler with the soda and water, grab two bottles of water, one for now and one for later, and head to the counter to pay. The one guy is tall and lean, like a swimmer, with golden wavy hair and a huge grin on his face. I can see he has a trident tattooed on his peck, as he is not wearing a shirt. The other boy has sort of curly blonde hair and is a little shorter but is more muscular in build. The blonde guy steps up to help me check out while the tall one heads to the back of the shop. "Find everything ok?" the blonde one asks me. I look at him to respond but I get caught up in staring at his bright eyes. They are so enticing that I can't seem to figure out how to say "yes". He just looks at me and grins, rings up the two waters and tells me "That'll be 8 dollars." Without breaking eye contact I hand him a 10-dollar bill. "I'm Peeta," he tells me out of blue. "Katniss" is all I can say. He takes the money from my hand and chuckles. "Well it's nice to meet you Katniss. Tell me, are you here on spring break?" he asks and all I can think about is how gorgeous his eyes are. Suddenly I realize he asked me a question and break out of my trance. "Yeah. Not exactly my kind of thing but hey, I'm here" I say nervously. "Same here." Peeta begins, "My roommate, Finnick," he says as he gestures to the tall wavy golden haired guy "his dad owns this shop and we come by to help out during the busy season." He pauses probably hoping I say something but I stand speechless, distracted again by his handsomeness. "Hey, if you're not doing anything tonight, the shop is sponsoring a beach party but it's pretty exclusive. I could put your name on the list, but only if you promise to come" says Peeta as he gives me a little wink, or at least I think it was a wink. I'm still dumbfounded by his eyes that I don't know what's real anymore. "Sure, I guess. Can I bring my two friends? I know at least one of them would be pretty disappointed if I went to a party without her." I ask Peeta. He replies with a smile and says "Of course. I'll put Katniss plus two." "Ok. Uh." I stammer feeling my face heat up with embarrassment. "Guess I'll see you tonight." I start to leave and as I'm just walking out the front door I hear Peeta shout "10 o'clock Katniss, see you then."

When I got back to our spot on the beach and told Johanna and Delly about the party we've been invited to Delly demanded that we go back to the hotel room to get ready. As we are getting dressed I quickly realize that I don't have anything to wear for a party, only beachwear and t-shirts. Delly insists on me borrowing one of her many sundresses so I pick the one that is the least revealing. It is a strapless one with a faint floral print on a navy background. I slip the dress over my bikini because Delly said that parties like these tend to have a "swimming element." I begin redoing my signature braid but again Delly insists that I wear it down. She has a terrible habit of insisting on things that really don't concern her. But I comply with her request and wear my long wavy brown hair down my back. I step into the bathroom for one quick check and I find myself scrutinizing over every inch of my appearance. Why isn't my hair as smooth and pretty as Delly's blonde mane? My face is too round. This dress looks ridiculous on me. Then I stop and ask myself, why do I care? Am I flustered over how I look because I know Peeta will be there? That is what's ridiculous, not my appearance. "I look great," I tell myself out loud and from behind me I hear Johanna say in her surly, sarcastic voice "Yeah you do." I look over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorframe smirking at me. "So what, can't a girl look good? This is spring break after all" I defend. Johanna just rolls her eyes and walks away. She was smart to bring a maxi dress of her own so she didn't get roped into wearing one of Delly's tiny things.

As we are getting ready to go to the beach party, Delly reaches into her suitcase and pulls out a bottle of tequila. "Where on earth did you get that?!" I shout. "Some girls in Sigma Alpha Tau bought it for me" replied Delly. "They said that every girl's first spring break trip isn't complete without some Patron." This is not a good idea, I think to myself. We are only 19. We could get into some serious trouble if someone finds out we're drinking. Johanna doesn't seem to mind the illegality of it all and grabs the bottle from Delly's dainty grip, opens the bottle and takes a quick swig. She looks to me and says under her breath, "If I'm going to have to be at this party with Peppy McSunshine over here I might as well be wasted." I smile knowingly at Johanna. She proceeds to take two more gulps then hands the bottle back to Delly whose mouth is still hanging open. Delly takes the bottle, grabs a cup from the desk, pours herself some tequila and begins sipping. She hands the bottle to me but I hesitate. I don't feel right drinking underage. "God, Kat, it's spring break. Have some fun dammit!" squeals Delly. "Yeah _Kat_. It's spring break. Have some _fun_," says Johanna, sarcastically. I submit and just like Johanna take a swig straight from the bottle. It's sour and tastes like what imagine jet fuel tastes like. I somehow manage to swallow the liquid. Delly and Johanna both giggle at my struggle. "C'mon Kat, we better get going or we will miss all the fun" Delly says as she takes Johanna and I by our hands and leads us out the door of our room.

We get to the lobby of the hotel and one of the bellhop boys whistles in our direction and I'm sure it's for Delly. "Looking good girls. Especially you, blue." I look around at the three of us, still arm in arm, and I notice that I'm the only one wearing blue, so the boy meant me. Delly giggles and leans into my ear as we leave the lobby and says, "He's right you know. You do look great." And for the first time since I've known Delly I can really tell she is being sincere.

As soon as we get down the beach I see a line that's formed alongside a long string of velvet ropes. "Wow," I say, "I guess this is pretty exclusive." Suddenly I see the other guy from the surf shop is working the line, letting people in or turning them away. I tell the girls, "Stay here for a second, I'm going to find out what's happening. I'll wave you over in a minute." I walk straight up to the wavy haired guy with my new found liquid confidence and say "Hi I'm Katniss, and I'm on the list. Peeta invited me." He grins widely at me and gives me a little wink. "Of course he did. I remember you; you're the girl from the shop who barely spoke. Looks like we came out of our shell now didn't we?" I raise my eyebrow in a quizzical manner to him and say, "So are we getting in or not? Peeta told me I could bring my two friends." As I mention Johanna and Delly I gesture to them to come over. "Yes you are on the list and so are they." He says with a condescending smile. When Delly and Johanna reach us the guy sticks out his hand to Johanna first and says "Hi there, I'm Finnick. Katniss here has gotten you guys into the most exclusive beach party PCB has ever known." He drops Johanna's hand but doesn't offer one to Delly and I can tell that she is takes personal offense to this because her face is scrunched up like a squirrel. I giggle a little at her without her hearing. "Let me know if I can get you ladies anything" Finnick croons, "especially you, legs." He says with a wink and grin to Johanna. Johanna is taken aback by this gesture I can tell because she hardly ever gets hit on and she never knows how to handle it. "Uh. Ok. Finnick? Ok." Johanna mumbles as we make our way into the party.

Delly, still upset about Finnick not paying attention to her, huffs right over to the bar. Johanna and I in tow follow right behind her. I don't know what she's doing at the bar because we can't buy any drinks. Just before she gets to the counter, Delly stops short and turns to us, "Ok girls, we have the ladies at Sigma Alpha Tau for these." She reaches into her little pink clutch bag and pulls out three IDs…three fake IDs, each with a new name and age and our pictures. She shoves the IDs in our hands and scurries away so we can't protest. I look at mine, Shimmer Blight, my new identity. I look at Johanna and she seems to think this isn't such a bad idea because she walks right up to the counter and orders a drink. When the bartender asked for her ID, she handed over the fake one and he barely looked at it. Huh. Must be a spring break thing not to care about underage drinking. So following Johanna's lead I walk up to the same guy and order a margarita. This time he doesn't even ask for my ID, he just begins to make the drink. He hands me my drink, and as I go to pay I feel someone come up from behind me and say "Oh no, your money is no good here, cutie." I turn around to find that Peeta is standing dangerously close to me in his rust orange board shorts and a tank top. He's grinning his crooked grin and hands the bartender some cash. "I didn't think you would come Katniss. I honestly thought you were playing me earlier." While Peeta is talking I take note of his lips and how they are a little thin but still very supple, especially his bottom lip. He notices me staring at his mouth and says, "Hey Katniss, my eyes are up…" and as soon as he says "here" he takes hold of my chin and gently glides it upwards so our eyes meet. There is some serious tension even I can feel it. I want to say something but I can't seem to find the words. However, Johanna who is still standing right next to me does, "Good work, Kat" she says while nudging me in the ribs. "Oh yeah. This is my roommate, Johanna." I introduce Johanna and Peeta to each other and Peeta chimes in with "Oh yeah, you're the one Finnick told me to look out for, with the legs." Johanna again is stunned into silence by Peeta's quip about her looks. She really doesn't get hit on, like ever. Not that she isn't pretty; she's just kind of intimidating to guys.

Johanna all of a sudden walks away from Peeta and I and the two of us are stuck there by the bar, not saying a word. I sometimes forget how awkward I can be. Peeta doesn't seem to mind standing in silence. I sip my margarita to occupy my mouth. Peeta is just standing there smiling at me like he knows something I don't. I finally work up the nerve to speak. I open my mouth but before I can say anything Peeta chirps up "Wanna dance?" "I don't dance, really." I say uneasily, and it's the truth. The last time I danced was when I was a flower girl in my neighbors wedding, when I was five. "Aw c'mon. Everyone dances."

Peeta says and grabs the drink from my hand, sets it on the counter of the bar. He takes a hold of my hand and leads me toward the dance floor. As soon as we reach the hard dance floor the song _Timber_ by Pitbull comes on. I let out a little laugh and Peeta turns to me and asks "What's wrong with this song?" I tell him how I spent most of my drive down to PCB listening to this song. "It's like it's following me." I say with a smile. "Well I say we try and forget about your drive down here and just focus on now" Peeta tells me with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. With my hand still in his grasp he spins me onto the dance floor. We begin dancing facing each other. Well I'm not sure you could call my bobbing up and down with my hands at my sides dancing but I must admit that I was having a good time. Peeta tried to get me to loosen up by making goofy faces at me. Sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes all while flailing his arms about like a goon. Then he starts singing along with _Timber_, well less singing and more rapping. "Swing your partner round and round. End of the night it's going down. One more shot, another round. End of the night it's going down." He raps over the loud thumping of the bass. I join in by badly singing Ke$ha's part, "It's going down, I'm yelling timber. You better move, you better dance. Let's make a night you won't remember. I'll be the one you won't forget." I laugh at our antics and he once again grabs my hand but this time as he spins me he doesn't spin me all the way around but rather stops so my back is facing him. He moves closer to me and places his hands on my hips. I'm startled a bit by this but quickly relax when I feel his chest press against my back. I place my hands on his hands at my hips. His hands are strong and calloused like he works with them a lot. He moves his hands a bit to intertwine our fingers together. He begins to guide my hips in a side-to-side motion, but not just side to side, in a circle too almost. Then it dawns on me, we are grinding. I've never done this before. Like I said the last time I had danced I was five. I've seen kids my age do this ever since I would go to the dances in middle school. Then I didn't understand the appeal to dancing like this when I was younger, but I get it now. I feel all flustered being this close to Peeta that a little shiver rolls up my spine. Peeta leans into my right ear and asks, "You ok?" I reply a breathy "Yes." I don't know how I know this but I know he is grinning right now. I can feel it. _Timber _quickly ends and transitions into another heavy bass dance song, this time I think by Rhianna. Before I know it Peeta has turned me around so now I'm facing him and we are extremely close, my legs straddling one of his. This reminds me of the way they dance in that movie _Dirty Dancing._ I kind of feel like Baby right now and Peeta is Johnny, teaching me how to dance this new way. Taking it slowly at first, swaying my hips back and forth with the motion of his hips and hands. He takes my right hand and places it behind his neck and pulls me closer. Our faces are almost touching now. He moves my hips more sensually now. No longer am I guided by his hands but rather by the sweet, slow movement of his hips.

Songs play one after another and I lose count as to how many have played in the time I've been dancing with Peeta. He doesn't seem to notice or care either. We are so lost in each other that we didn't even notice they changed DJs. As we are dancing Peeta leans into my ear and says "The surf shop should be empty right now, wanna get out of here?" It takes me a second to realize what he is asking me but as soon as it clicks I reply with another breathy "yes." Peeta grabs my right hand from behind his neck, leans in and whispers, "Follow me."

We hurry from the dance floor to the sand and hop the red velvet rope. Without the lights of the party we sneak away into the night and up the beach. "Just a little bit further" Peeta says hushed. Then suddenly we are at the door to the shop and before we even open the door Peeta spins me around and throws me against the door. Then he's there, hands propped on the door on either side of my head. "Can I kiss you yet?" he pants. I smile and before I can answer he slams into me. His mouth on mine. His lips are soft, softer than I would imagine, but they feel so good on mine. He pulls me away from the door and wraps his arms tight around me. He tastes like beer and somehow salty, like he'd just been in the water. He presses his lips harder into mine; I slowly part my lips to let him in. Peeta presses his tongue into my mouth gently but with determination, as if he is going to continue kissing me whether I like it or not, and boy do I like it. I take in the taste of him with a soft, sweet moan. He breaks the kiss but not completely from my lips. "Let's get inside before anyone sees us," he tells me. He reaches above the doorframe and pulls down the spare keys and unlocks the door. Peeta shoves me inside the shop and he is laughing. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but when you came in today all I could think about was kissing you. And when you left, I couldn't stop thinking about kissing you." He gushes his feelings to me as we stand in the front of the store. "I'm glad I came to the party," I say with a smile.

Peeta shuts the door and takes both of my hands in his. He strokes his thumbs against the tops of my hands and begins to lead me further into the shop. He stops and pulls me into him, close against his chest. I look into his bright, beautiful eyes and it feels like they are shining into this darkened shop. He slowly leans down, kisses the tip of my nose. It makes me smile, it's like I've known Peeta my whole life I'm so comfortable around him now. Before I couldn't even get two words out but now, I can't imagine feeling anything but at peace around him. Peeta slowly caresses my lips with his, sweetly pulling on my bottom lip. This kiss is fueling the fire that swells from my heart to my center. I never knew that one move, tugging on my lip, would get me going this hard. I nearly lose my balance as my knees go weak. Luckily Peeta has me wrapped in his arms again, and he begins moving us behind the counter. We stumble across the floor, never leaving each other's lips. He pushes me against the counter and swiftly lifts me so I'm sitting on the edge. This breaks our passionate kisses, but it gives me another chance to take in his perfect eyes and face. His jaw line strong and proud, his lips pleading for mine.

Peeta slowly begins to lift up the skirt of my dress. I look at him in somewhat surprise. I didn't think this would happen. But I'm kind of glad it is. He looks up at me and I can tell his eyes are pleading with mine for permission. I simply nod and he lifts the dress up all the way to expose my bikini bottoms that I had forgotten I was wearing. Peeta slowly tugs at the strings on the sides of my bikini until the knots come undone. The front of the bikini falls open and exposes me. I immediately press my legs together out of embarrassment. I've never done anything beyond kissing with a guy so this is a new experience for me. But I'm not scared, just a bit shy I guess. Peeta places his coarse hands on my knees, looks up into my eyes and smiles a soft sheepish grin. And somehow I know this is new for him too so I nod again to let him know I'm okay. More than okay. He leans in and kisses me sweetly and softly again and my heart nearly flies out of my chest.

The next thing Peeta does is a bit of a shock to me. He slowly gets down on his knees so he is eye level with my exposed center. I slide a little closer to the edge so I can see him there on the ground. Peeta places his hands on my knees and slowly slides my legs apart. He plants soft kisses along the inside of my right thigh, then along the inside of my left. But when he gets to the end of my left thigh he doesn't stop kissing, he continues to kiss me in my center. The sensation makes my toes curl and sends chills up my spine. I've never felt anything so wonderful. He continues kissing me and sliding his tongue around my sweet wet center. "Oh Peeta. Don't stop that. Please." I moan. And he doesn't, he instead finds my sweet spot with the tip of his tongue and circles it over, and over. That almost sends me sweet relief from the tension I feel building in my base. Suddenly Peeta gets up from his position on the floor and as he does so he removes his board shorts exposing his member. Fully erect and throbbing it startles me a bit, but I think I play it cool because I'm still reeling from the tension in my center.

Aching for more I whisper "Peeta, please." He leans in and kisses me deeply and fast. He pulls me off the countertop and I wrap my legs around his waist. I can feel his member pressing against my bottom and I so badly want to know the feeling of him inside me. Peeta doesn't carry me far, just over to the wall at the end of the counter. He props me up against the wall and positions himself at my entrance. "God, Katniss, you are so wet. Fuck." Slowly he pushes into me and the sensation of him inside me is painful but in a deeply pleasurable way. I've never felt so filled in my entire life. "Fuck!" I shout. "Shhh, someone will hear you." Peeta scolds. "You're so tight Katniss. Fuck me." Somehow still holding me up against the wall, Peeta begins thrusting in and out of me. A moan slips through my lips as I feel the tension building again but this time at a more rapid pace. "Faster, Peeta. Please" I hiss through my gritted teeth. I can't tell if he is going faster but all of a sudden I feel my relief swell and rush through my body like waves crashing against the sand. Over and over, crashing in my body. "Fuck!" Peeta shouts as I feel him explode within my center. Our bodies shudder against each other as our orgasms flow. Slowly Peeta reclaims himself and places me back on my feet. I nearly fall because my knees are so weak but luckily, strong and able Peeta is there to catch me before I hit the ground. He pulls me up to eye level once more, and kisses my nose.

I walk over to my spot on the counter to gather my bikini bottoms. I tie them back on as Peeta returns his board shorts to their place on his slender hips. Once order has been restored to our appearances, Peeta walks to me, takes my hand in his and we walk out the door of the shop together, fingers intertwined just as our bodies were a few moments ago. Peeta turns and locks the door behind us and we walk back up the beach toward the party.

Once we reach the dance floor we look to each other one last time. "This will definitely be a night I never forget" Peeta tells me then kisses me on the cheek. We part ways and I walk toward the bar where I spot Johanna downing another drink. "Where were you?" Johanna slurs as I approach her. "Well hello to you too, drunky. Let's get you back to the room." I spot Delly on the dance floor with a guy dancing, and signal to her that we are headed back.

As Johanna and I walk back across the beach towards our hotel passing the darkened surf shop I can help but grin widely as I remember Peeta's and my clandestine adventure. Peeta was right. I will never forget this night.


	2. Part Two

Never Gonna Slow Down

"You did what?!" shouts Johanna. "I, uh, had sex with that boy I was dancing with last night." I mumble. "Wait, what?" Johanna shouts again. The only reason I'm telling her this is because I know Delly is out looking for what she calls "a decent cup of coffee".

I explained the circumstances of my late night tryst to Johanna the morning after the beach party. Johanna and I came back to the room late last night and when we got to the room Johanna passed out on the bed before I could talk to her. I on the other hand couldn't sleep a wink. I was still reeling with the sensation of my first time that not only couldn't I sleep but also I couldn't stay still. My whole body was shaking with excitement, with hope that I'd see Peeta again, and with sheer aching for more of that sweet sensation I felt for the first time in that surf shop. The whole of the night I was laying in that hotel bed with Johanna snoring next to me, remembering the salty and hoppy taste of Peeta's lips. His calloused hands holding me as we kissed in the entrance of the shop. But mostly I was yearning for the feeling of him inside of me. It was like I had experienced my first taste of a drug, one that I craved from the moment he left me, one that I will crave until I see him again, until I feel him next to me. That sensation, the rush of electricity you only feel with that special someone. I needed it all night. I still need it now.

Johanna has noticed I've stopped paying attention to her lecture at this point and has started flailing her arms about to get me to look at her again. "What? Sorry." I apologize. "I just can't believe you, Katniss Everdeen, the sweet little girl from the seam of coal mining territory would even consider leaving a public place with a boy you just met, let alone fuck him in an empty beach shop. This is blowing my mind right now. Am I dreaming? Because it feels like I am." Johanna is babbling on and on about how surprised she is about all of this and what I don't think she gets is that I'm the most surprised out of the two of us. She's right. I'm a notoriously sweet and innocent girl. I've never done anything that someone would think is risqué. I put on a hard shell sometimes but mostly I keep to myself. "Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you Everdeen, but damn I'm shocked." Johanna continues.

Suddenly, Delly comes barreling through the door, coffee and shopping bags in hand. "Hello lovely ladies!" Delly chimes. "How was your night? I never did hear why you left so early and when I got back you were both sound asleep." She didn't notice I was still awake, which I guess is a good thing because then she would've asked about the party then. Johanna shoots me a look like a "Does Delly know?" kind of look. I shake my head very slightly at Johanna and she picks up what I'm trying to convey. "So?" Delly eggs us on to tell her about the night. There is a long pause from the two of us but thankfully Johanna responds with a cover story. "I got a wasted and don't remember much other than Katniss dragged me out of there before I could make a fool of myself." "You got wasted?! How wasted?" Delly is fascinated by any drunken story. "Yeah I got really wasted. From what I remember is that I drank some tequila, and then I drank some more. The end." Johanna tells her story with such a large helping of sarcasm that Delly quickly realizes that Johanna is annoyed with her and doesn't want to talk about last night. So Delly drops it and begins to show us what she bought while she was out. Delly has an uncanny ability to find the closest shops and buy whatever is in her path. She purchased what I can only describe as a slew of shell necklaces and coconut cups, things that would be considered useless by anyone other than Delly. My mind begins to wander again, dreaming about Peeta and his lips, and his eyes, and his hands caressing every inch of my naked skin. I continue my day dreaming when suddenly I'm pulled out of my imagination when Delly mentions the surf shop. "Yeah, and then I went to that surf shop on the beach right by the visitor center. There was this boy, he was so gorgeous. He had light hair and oh man, I wanted to jump him right there," Delly recalls.

I sit there on the queen bed in shock. Is she talking about Peeta? He is drop dead gorgeous, and he has light hair. It must be him she's talking about. I knew it. It was too good to be true. Peeta wasn't in to me. He was just in it for the hook up. Psh. He said it was a night he would never forget, what shit that was. I can't believe I fell for all of that. I'm such an idiot. But, wait. This is bullshit. I'm not just anyone. I'm Katniss fucking Everdeen. I don't deserve this. One amazing, lovely night with a fantastically handsome guy deserves at least 24 hours without flirting with someone else. That's just common courtesy, or at least I think it is. I'm going to go down to that shop and give him a peace of my mind, dammit! I jump to my feet with such gusto I nearly knock Johanna right from her spot next to me. As Johanna wobbles back to her spot on the bed she shouts, "Hey what the hell? Where are you going, Katniss?" "I'm going to talk to that boy, that's where I'm going!" I shout back as I grab my sandals and bag and storm out the door. I stomp toward the elevator, shoving shoes on my feet as I go. Behind me I hear the door to the room open and Delly shrieking, "What's happening, I'm so confused. Johanna! Come back here." "He has some nerve," I shout to whoever is behind me. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind, that is for sure." I reach the elevator doors and they open at my approach. "You can come with me Johanna but it ain't going to be pretty." I shout and Johanna jumps onto the elevator with me just before the doors close. We rode down the elevator in a tense silence. Johanna knew better than to mess with me when I was angry, she had learned that from our time as roommates but specifically this one time.

I was on the archery team at Duke, I was given a scholarship to be on the team and that was the only way I could afford a high priced university like Duke. Well this one time there was a girl down the hall in our dorm who would play her insipid rap music so loud that no one could get any work done or sleep. So one day after practice I came into the dorm and could hear the music thumping all the way from three floors down. Once I reached the third floor where our rooms were I walked right up to the music girl's door and placed two precise shots into the wooden door. The door was thin enough that the arrows landed with a thud but not so thin that they went directly through. Then I grabbed a sticky note from the door next to hers and wrote, "Not everyone likes your stupid music," stuck it to the end of my final arrow and shot it between the existing arrows, then walked away. As I walked down the hall I noticed that Johanna had been watching the whole time and then I began to hear the music girl shouting down the hall at me. I didn't care what she had to say, I was just glad that the music stopped. From that moment one, Johanna knew to never make me angry or else more arrows would fly. I should've gotten expelled for my stunt but nothing came of it. I think the music girl was too afraid to confront me about it.

We stepped off the elevator and out into the lobby, me stomping more that walking. Johanna grabs me by my arm and asks, "What are you going to say to him?" I shirk her grasp and reply, "I don't know. But he's gonna know what he did wasn't cool. Fucking me then flirting with how many other girls the day after. Not even asking me for my phone number. What a creep." "Hey! Keep your voice down" Johanna scolds me. We leave the lobby of the hotel and make our way along the boardwalk toward the surf shop. Just before we get to the storefront Johanna stops me again "Seriously Katniss, think of what you're going to say when you see him, or else you might be pulled into his charm again." "You make a good point." I say. "I'll just go up to him and say 'You are such an asshole.' And walk out of there with my head held high, knowing I had the last word. "

We continue to walk the rest of the way and as I walk to the door of the shop I open my mouth to begin my verbal thrashing when I swing the door open and see that Peeta isn't there. It's his friend Finnick and he is the only one in the shop. "Hey Kat Lips" he coos. "Finnick. Is Peeta not here?" I ask as I stumble over my words. "No sweet cheeks he hasn't been here all day. Came back to the house and crashed and wouldn't wake up when I left this morning. Why? Are you ready for round two?" he asks with a blatant wink. "So it was you that was flirting with Delly, not Peeta?" I ask not really to Finnick but to myself. I can't believe I doubted Peeta. I mean granted I've only known him for not even 24 hours but still I felt so connected to him last night. The room is silent while I ponder to myself my connection with Peeta, and suddenly I'm jolted from the caverns of my mind by the sound of Finnick saying "Well, wait no longer, here comes Prince Charming now." I turn and see Peeta entering the surf shop with his face tanned and bright, his smiling lighting up his entire surroundings as if his teeth were each little suns. "Oh my gosh Katniss," he chimes. " I didn't think I'd see you again!" He bounces right over to me and sweeps me up into his strong embrace. My feet lift off the ground as he spins me around. My heart spins with glee, seeing him here with his bright smile and realizing it wasn't him flirting with Delly.

As Peeta sets me down I struggle to find my feet. My knees instantly weaken whenever I see his pair of bright eyes twinkling into mine. I open my smiling mouth to say something, anything, but I fail to come up with the words to express how wonderful it is to feel Peeta's arms wrapped around my waist. I felt more at home in his arms than I had ever felt in my entire life. We stood there together in each other's embrace for what seemed like forever but in reality was only a few seconds. Time moves slower when staring into the face of this boy I couldn't stop thinking about all last night. Over my shoulder I hear Johanna who has begun to sigh loudly and repeatedly. I turn to face her and say "Oh, yes. Peeta, this is Johanna, remember her from last night at the party?" "Of course I do," Peeta replies "Nice to see you again, Johanna." "Same to you Peeta." Johanna responds in her signature sarcastic tone. We stand in awkward silence for a few moments, me staring at Peeta, Peeta staring at me and Johanna looking at us like we are crazy, rolling her eyes. Not knowing exactly what to do to fill the silence, I spin on my heels to address Finnick but on my way around I manage to hit a row of standing boards knocking them all to the ground with a crash. Each board hits the ground in a manner that made such a clamor ring out and frighten me every time. I hear Finnick shout explicatives over the noise "Goddamn! Shit!" I am mortified. I cannot believe that this is happening to me right now, especially in front of Peeta. I am notoriously clumsy when it comes to every day tasks, like spinning around. I crouch down and begin to pick the surfboards off the floor. Peeta joins me on the floor lifting the fallen boards up and back on the racks. I notice that a few, maybe two or three are cracked. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Peeta. I swear I didn't mean to do it. And now these boards are ruined." I feel the tears begin to well up in the corners of my eyes. I take my face in my hands and let the tears fall. Suddenly I feel the warm embrace of Peeta's strong arms wrap around my shoulders. "It's ok. It really is. Accidents happen." I feel like a complete fool, sitting here on the floor of the surf shop wrapped in the arms of this wonderful guy. I force myself to compose and dry my eyes with the back of my hands. Before I have the chance to pull completely away from Peeta I hear him whisper in my ear "You're staying in the Grand Sea Hotel right?" I hum a weak "Mhmm." "Good. Meet me out front at 8pm tonight. Make sure you wear another cute dress like last night" he continues to whisper. "See you then" I whisper back. Suddenly I hear from behind me Johanna's signature sarcasm "Oh shit you two, get a room."

Peeta and I separate from each other's embrace and stand awkwardly close to each other, still. Johanna is giving me a knowing look, something like 'Geez Katniss, contain yourself' and I feel my face flush with heat. "Well I guess we should be going," I tell no one in particular. "Yes we most definitely should" Johanna agrees. She grabs me by my wrist and drags me out of the front door where just the night before this handsome boy staring back at me now was passionately kissing me. This boy who has now asked to meet me again tonight and I have no idea what it is that we are doing, but I hope it mirrors last night. "What were you two doing down on the floor?" Johanna asks me. "He was just hugging me. I don't know what came over me. I just felt really bad, I guess." I cover poorly. "Mhmm, sure you did." Johanna retorts, rolling her eyes yet again. I can't help but feel bad, knowing that I'm going to sneak out on my two friends tonight for a boy I just met. I've known both Johanna and Delly for much longer than Peeta and I know Johanna isn't the biggest fan of Delly, so leaving them together might result in something catastrophic.

Later that evening I stood pondering my appearance in the hotel mirror. I had borrowed another of Delly's dresses, this time it was a dark orange halter maxi dress with a bright white Hawaiian floral print around the bottom. I feel ridiculous but I can't help but admit that I look fabulous in this dress. Delly may be annoying sometimes but she has fantastic fashion sense. As I stand here I can't help but feel the butterflies in my stomach. I am so nervous for two reasons, first being I have no idea what we are doing tonight and second being I'll be with Peeta all night. "Stop it." I tell myself. "You are a strong girl and no boy should ever shake you." I try and give myself a pep talk to soothe the flapping in my belly but to no avail, the flapping continues. I decide that eating something may calm my nerves so I exit the room's bathroom and see that Delly and Johanna are sitting on the beds watching television. "Katniss Motherfucking Everdeen! What a stunner." Johanna shouts a little too loud. "It looks ridiculous", I say "but I'm going down to the café to grab some sandwiches, what would you two like?" "Nonsense!" Delly squeals, "We are getting room service. Shrimp cocktail and champagne sound nice?" Delly picks up the phone and dials down to the kitchen. "Yes I would like to place an order for room service please." Pause. "Yes I would like one bottle of your finest champagne and three orders of shrimp cocktail." "And a lobster roll for me." Johanna interjects. "And one lobster roll platter too please." Pause. "Room 1207, Thank you." Delly hangs up the phone and smiles at me. "Now you can have a fancy dinner to go with that fancy dress. You never did tell me why you wanted to borrow that dress." I look away from Delly because I can feel my face heat up with embarrassment. "Oh she's going to see that boy down at the surf shop I bet." Johanna teases. "So what if I am!" I defend. "Wait, which boy from the surf shop the hot one or the super hot one?" Delly asks. "Does it matter?" Johanna says "Katniss likes a boy, Katniss likes a boy." teases Johanna. I punch Johanna in the arm. "Don't make me get my bow." I threaten jokingly. Suddenly I hear my cell phone begin beeping. My alarm. I set it for 8 o'clock so I could meet Peeta. "Shit. I'm so sorry guys, I gotta go." I grab my white flip-flops, phone, and my little bag and rush out the door.

I barely make it to the elevator before the doors close and I dash inside. I'm the only one in the lift and I stand there and stare at my reflection in the elevator doors. I can't say that I've ever really looked at myself full length before. I examine myself and before I can come to any sort of conclusion the doors open to the lobby floor. As I make my way out through the lobby and passed the front desk I can see an old beat up white pick up truck waiting under the overhang in the hotel drive. I get closer and I can tell who it is sitting in that truck. I begin to run a little up to the truck and when I get there I lean into the passenger side window and shout "Surprise!" over the loud country music playing through the stereo speakers. My entrance startles him a bit and he jumps in his seat. Peeta leans over to the passenger door and unlocks and opens it for me. As I climb in he turns down the radio and greets me with a bright "Hey Beautiful." He leans in and gives me a little peck on the lips, sweet but not lingering. I'm a little disappointed by this kiss but oh well, take what you can get when it comes to Peeta. It suddenly occurs to me that I cannot remember Peeta's last name, or if he even told me. Abruptly I ask "Peeta, what's your last name?" He is taken aback by the randomness of the question but he shakes it off and answers "Mellark. And yours?" He asks me. "Everdeen." After a moment of awkward silence I notice that his last name sounds familiar to me. A few seconds of hard thinking and probably some interesting thinking faces it dawns on me, there's a Mellark Bakery back in my hometown, actually it's quite close to my old high school. "You know," I begin "There's a Mellark Bakery back in my hometown, Seam." "Yeah my dad owns that bakery, along with a few others." He replies nonchalantly. I can't believe this. First I can't believe that Peeta's dad owns the Mellark Bakery chain and second I can't believe that he never mentioned that before. Peeta must be flushed with cash. If his dad owns the Mellark Bakeries then why is Peeta driving this piece of crap truck? I'm too shy to ask and plus that's kind of rude to ask about money. We drive away from the hotel and down the boulevard along the beach. I see the grand hotel shrinking in the side view mirror along with the touristy side of Panama City Beach. I stare out the window and watch the people go by, when suddenly a song I recognize comes on the radio. It's one of my favorites, _Barefoot Blue Jean Night_ by that country singer Jake Owen. As the song rolls on I hear Peeta begin to sing along. "Howlin' and Singing our favorite songs, Oooooooh." Then I chimed in with "Never gonna grow up, Never gonna slow down." And together we sang "We were shining like lighters in the dark in the middle of a rock show." The look Peeta is giving me is fueling some sort of courage in me because in that moment as we are driving I slide over in the truck seat and lean up against his strong torso. He lifts his right arm from his lap and wraps it around my shoulders and we continue driving in this snuggled position all the way to a secluded beach.

We drive in the pick-up off the gravel drive and right onto the sandy beach. We drive along the dunes until I see in the distance a small bonfire. Peeta maneuvers the truck so the rear is facing the bonfire, puts it in park and he jumps right out of the cab. A few moments later two more cars arrive, one brand new Jeep Wrangler driven by Finnick and the other a truck like Peeta's driven by a couple I didn't recognize. All drivers position their vehicle so they can face the fire. Hesitantly I jump out of the truck and stand next to the door looking at the small fire. "Hey there Kat Lips." Finnick coos. "Hi Finnick. Fancy seeing you here." I reply with a sarcastic edge in my voice. "Ah yes, the bonfire. Some would even call this a romantic gesture." Finnick teases as he rummages around in his jeep and pulls out beers and marshmallows. "Katniss, come here." Peeta shouts from across the way. I roll my eyes at Finnick as he makes kissy noises while I walk toward Peeta. I step cautiously next to Peeta and he immediate snakes his arm around my lower back and pulls me close to him before saying "Guys this is Katniss, she's here on break." The few others that have arrived by now give me a general hey before dropping their tailgates and grabbing drinks from their coolers. Peeta turns to me and says hushed "Don't be nervous, these guys are locals like Finn. Very chill." He drops the tailgate to his truck with a loud thud and climbs up so he's sitting with his legs dangling off the edge. "Come on, get up here!" He teases me. I try to climb up into the bed of the truck as lady like as I can with this dress on but I fail miserably and end up looking very silly. Peeta laughs at my struggle for a bit before offering a hand to me. Once I'm seated Peeta reaches behind him to the cooler I didn't notice before and pulls out two drinks, one beer and one soda. He offers both to me saying "Which one would you like my dear?" I knew that I'd need all the liquid courage I could get tonight so I snatched the beer from his hand and cracked the can open. I take a quick swig and Peeta chuckles at me saying "Oh is that how it's going to be tonight. Well bring it on Everdeen." He cracks open his beer and gives me a challenging look. "Last one to finish owes the other a dare?" I challenge Peeta. "You're on!" Peeta agrees and we beginning chugging our beers. After a few seconds Peeta is finished and I'm barely halfway finished. He throws his can into the fire and let's out a loud belch. "Looks like you owe me one dare little lady." Peeta says with a bit of southern twang in his voice. I smile sheepishly and finish my beer. I can hear Finnick next to us making kissy noises again so I crumple my can up and throw it at his head. Everyone roars with laughter when the can hits him right in the face.

The sun slowly sets beneath the water and the fire burns brightly. After a few moments Finnick climbs back up into his Jeep and turns on the radio. Country music blares from the speakers and everyone seems to loosen up a little with the music. Peeta grabs us another beer and Finnick passes out the marshmallows and some sticks. I climb off the tailgate of the truck and begin roasting my marshmallow. A few of the others join me around the fire but Peeta isn't one of them. I turn and look over my shoulder only to catch Peeta just staring at me smiling to himself. "Enjoying the view?" I ask him coyly. He chuckles to himself knowing I caught his glance. I climb back into the tailgate with my roasted marshmallow and once it's cooled down I plop it in my mouth whole and give Peeta a little grin. The group returns to their respective vehicles and we all sit around the fire together. The night sky grows darker and the air cooler. I begin to shiver a little and Peeta notices. He reaches behind us and pulls a blanket out of a gym bag. Peeta scootches a little closer to me and wraps both of us with the blanket and doing so he pulls me closer to him. We are now completely cuddling in the bed of his truck, listening to the country radio station sipping on our beers. "Alright folks, we got ourselves a request that came in through the email tonight." The radio disk jockey shouts into the microphone. Finnick looks over to us and turns the volume up a little bit more. "This song goes out to Katniss. The message says 'I hope we always shine like lighters in the dark in the middle of a rock show. Love Peeta.' A little cheesy if you ask me but here it is Peeta for your girl Katniss, _Barefoot Blue Jean Night_" the announcer finishes. The song begins and everyone is looking at Peeta and me either smiling widely or mouths agape. I look at Peeta and he is giving me a crooked smile and I can't help it. I lean right in, wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him deeply. It surprises him I can tell but then it hits him and he kisses me back, passionately. For a moment I forget there are others around us and then I hear the cheering. The others around the fire, including Finnick, are clapping, hooping and hollering. I break our kiss and feel my face flush with embarrassment. I smile and give a little wave to the others. "When did you have time to even do that, Peeta?" I whisper in disbelief. "While you were roasting marshmallows I sent an email from my phone." He replies. I just sit there astonished, staring into Peeta's eyes. He is still smiling at me. After a beat I chug the last of my beer and then lean over to whisper in his ear "Let's get out of here." He gives me a look like he's saying "Really?" and I give him a little nod. He practically jumps out of the tailgate and runs to the cab of the truck. I laugh at his eagerness and shout over my shoulder to the other guys "Peeta's gonna take me back to my hotel. See you guys." By the time I finish my sentence Peeta has the truck started. Finnick gives me a little wolf whistle as I climb into the cab and then the two of us are driving away from the fire and into the darkness.

I don't even bother buckling in but instead I sit right next to Peeta on the bench seat and he puts his arm around me as we drive away. I'm feeling particularly brazen and emboldened by the beer so I place my left hand on his right thigh and slowly trace circles on his skin peaking out from under his board shorts. He looks down at my fingers and out of the corner of his eye he glances at my face. He smiles his little crooked smile. "Where are we going?" I ask hushed. "I know a quiet little beach I thought you might like to see." Peeta says quickly with excitement. My heart is racing at the thought of being alone with Peeta again. I can hear it pounding in my ears and can't distinct the bumps in the road from the thumping in my chest. This little beach seems so far away and I can't contain my excitement so I lean closer to Peeta and turn so my nose brushes his stubbly chin. "I want you, Peeta. Bad. Right here, right now." My breath on his chin and neck makes his hair stand on end and he tenses up a little as I gently brush my lips along his jaw line up to his earlobe. I nuzzle and nibble on his ear for a few moments before the truck comes to an abrupt halt. I look up and out the front window to see that we have in fact arrived to a very tiny patch of sand that lines the deep blue of the ocean. Our truck is surrounded by cattails and grass, and we are completely secluded. The only light coming from the moon is reflecting off the water and onto Peeta's bright eyes. And as I look into his eyes I notice something change about them. No longer are his eyes bright but now they are dark and brewing with lust. It took me just seconds to go from staring into Peeta's deep eyes to passionately kissing him. My arms wrapped around his neck, his hands on my hips pulling me closer. Before I know it I'm sitting on Peeta's lap in the cab of the truck. My legs straddling his, my back pressed into the steering wheel. The hem of my maxi dress has been pushed up to around my thighs. My center is heating quickly with lust and fever as I grind against Peeta's lap, kissing him deeply, exploring every inch of his mouth with mine. "Your shorts." I say sloppily through our kisses. Peeta does some shuffling and a few seconds later I feel his shorts slide down his legs beneath me. We can't seem to break our kisses for just one second and yet somehow Peeta reaches up my dress and pulls down my panties. He doesn't get them very far before I break from his lips and lift myself from his lap and slide my panties all the way down my legs and toss them on to the floor of the truck. And in that moment everything stands still. I lock eyes with Peeta, his pupils dilated with lust and I can only imagine what I look like right now. "You ok?" Peeta asks me between panting breaths. I simply smile a huge grin and nod then I continue kissing this magnificent boy. I can feel Peeta's hands slide between my legs and his fingers find my center. He rubs me in slow, deliberate circles and I let out a moan of pleasure. I can feel a grin creep across Peeta's lips as we kiss. He's particularly proud of himself I can tell. I slowly slide my hand down from Peeta's neck across his chest and down his front and he lets out a sigh in between our lips. I take my hand and steady his hand that is driving me insane. Together we reach in between us and position his rock hard member at my entrance. Peeta quickly breaks our kiss again to look me in the eyes and asks "Yeah?" He pleads with his eyes, he wants me as badly as I want him. I look deeply into his dark eyes and let out a breathy "Yes" and lower myself slowly onto his throbbing cock. He fills me completely and the painful pleasure releases a moan from my lips. Peeta's head falls back against the headrest of the seat as he lets out an "Oh God. Fuck!" I take my hand from between our laps and pull his face back toward me. I hold him there looking into my eyes as I begin to ride him. Slowly at first, tentatively relearning the rhythm of his body. Peeta places his hands on my hips and begins to direct my movement. I drop my hands to his shoulders to balance myself as I begin to move faster. I slide up and down at a rapid pace and the heat builds again in my abdomen. I look at Peeta and his eyes are shut, head back against the headrest again, mouth agape whimpering out a string of "Fuck me" and "Oh God, yes". I can't blame him. I can barely control my body enough to ride him let alone say any words of pleasure but then suddenly the build grows rapidly. The heat in my abdomen is spreading like wildfire lower and lower. "Peeta" I whimper and he opens his eyes to look deep into mine. "I'm gonna…" I trail off and his eyes ignite with fire and then it happens. I feel the build finally release in my base and all around Peeta. He feels it too and his release comes quickly after mine. Once our waves of pleasure settle I lean against the steering wheel and he against the seat and both of us together let out a sighing "Fuck." A few moments pass before I remember that Peeta is still inside of me. I let out a little chuckle and dismount from his lap and he pulls up his shorts. We sit close together in the truck for several minutes, not saying anything; the only sounds are our staggered breaths.

"Don't take me back to the hotel tonight." I whisper. Peeta turns to me and whispers "Okay. Where do you wanna go?" I honestly don't know the answer to that question so I stay silent. All I do know is that I don't want to spend another night without Peeta next to me. "Let's stay here." Peeta suggests. "I have some extra blankets in the bag I brought. We could sleep here in the truck. If that's ok with you?" He asks hesitantly. The idea of spending the night in a truck doesn't particularly sound like a night in paradise but anyway I can be with Peeta is paradise to me. "Sounds perfect." I tell him and give him a little kiss. Peeta untangles himself from me and proceeds to exit the truck and grab the bag from the bed. He returns to the cab with the blankets and wraps us up in them. We cuddle up next two each other and settle in for the night. I feel myself getting tired and my eyelids begin to droop. I rest my head against Peeta's shoulder and let myself succumb to my drowsy eyes. Right before I finally drift off I hear Peeta mumble something and I can't quite make out what he says but I swear it was "I love you."

The sun is just barely peaking out above the water when I wake up. My face still nuzzled in Peeta's chest I look up at his face and see he is still sleeping. Mouth wide open he snores a little. He looks so peaceful and young when he sleeps, like I'm looking at a younger Peeta I never knew. I lift my head from his chest and the movement wakes him. With one final snort Peeta jolts up and asks, "What time is it?" I honestly don't know what time it was but I do know that I've been out all night so Delly and Johanna must be worried about me. I bend over to reach my purse on the floor and grab my phone. Dead. Oh well. I'll have Peeta take me back to the hotel later; I'm not quite ready to leave him yet. "I'm not sure what time it is, my phone is dead." I lean back into Peeta and he wraps his arms around me again. "That's fine. Now tell me something Katniss Everdeen, Do you enjoy breakfast?" Peeta asks with a huge grin on his face. "Of course, I love breakfast." I tell him. "Good because I know a little stand down the road that does the best breakfast burrito in the state." Peeta says and he starts up the truck. The engine starts with a loud rumbling roar and we drive back up the gravel drive toward the main road.

We get our breakfast burritos and Peeta wasn't lying, they were the best I've ever had. We eat them as we head back to the hotel to drop me off. I haven't bothered to buckle into the truck because if I do I won't be able to snuggle up close to him as we drive. Peeta doesn't want to take my back to my hotel right away so he drives me down every dirt road he can find to avoid the trip back. But after quite a bit of stalling I suggest that Delly and Johanna would be worried about me and that he should take me back. Peeta gives me the most pitiful looking puppy dog eyes but he complies. We arrive back at the hotel and Peeta drops me off at the front door where he picked me up the night before. "I've gotta run an errand and shower." Peeta tells me. "I'll be back at 4 and we could go for a little picnic or something." He suggests and the idea of a picnic with Peeta sounds fantastic. I hop out of the beat up truck and walk over to Peeta's side with a little prance in my step. Through the window I lean in and give him a chaste kiss and tell him "Come back for me." He smiles at me and replies "Always."

I hear the truck roar off in the distance as Peeta drives away. As soon as I'm sure he's gone I make my way back into the hotel and up to my room. But before I can get there I'm stopped at the elevator by Delly. She has her bags in her hands and her eyes are puffy like she had been crying. "Delly! What's wrong?" I ask and as soon as she opens her mouth to answer she begins sobbing. Delly drops her bags on the ground and pulls me in for a hug. "She's just so awful. We had a huge fight while you were gone and I just want to go home." Delly squeaks out between sobs. What on earth was she talking about? "Delly what's happening? Who's awful?" I ask trying my best to console her in the lobby of the hotel. "Johanna. She already left this morning. She got a cab or something. I don't know." Delly says before she pulls me into an even tighter hug. Johanna left? That can't be. I want to run upstairs and see that it isn't true. But after a few more mintues of public crying Delly has composed herself to continue packing her bags. I ride the elevator anxiously tapping my key card against my fingers. When the elevator dings I run out of the lift and down the hall to my room and open it to find that all of Johanna's things are gone. Delly was right. What did they fight about that would cause Johanna to leave and Delly want to leave her dream spring break. I plug my phone into the charger and as it turns on I see that I have seventeen missed calls from Delly and Johanna combined about twenty eight texts from Johanna alone. I glance through the texts as quickly as possible and the gist of the argument was that Delly wanted to go out and Johanna didn't and that somehow led to a fight. Shit. Shit. Shit. Delly was my only way home. If she was leaving I had to leave too. Shit. I look through my phone contacts hoping somehow I had Peeta's number. No luck. I can feel the tears welling in the corners of my eyes. I run back out of the room and to the elevator and when it arrives to my floor I see Delly again. "Where's your stuff? We're leaving now. I can't stand to be here for one more second." Delly says forcefully backing me up toward the room. "No, Delly! Not yet. I have to go somewhere really quick. Don't leave without me." I run back to the elevator just before the doors close. When the doors reopen at the ground floor I sprint out through the lobby and onto the street. I'm a little lost for a moment but the regain my bearings and run off in direction of the surf shop. Hopefully Peeta's there and I can tell him how much I care for him and give him my phone number before I'm forced to leave.

Just when I think my little legs can't run any longer I arrive at the surf shop and bust through the door. Panting and trying to catch my breath I see Finnick at the counter. "Where's…Peeta?" I ask breathless. "You just missed him Catlips. He said he was going to get supplies for tonight. I only assumed he was picking you up too." Finnick tells me. Before I can think I dash back out the door and run all the way back to the hotel. Delly is waiting for me in her car. She gives me her patented "I'm waiting!" look but before I get in her car I run into the lobby of the hotel to the front desk. Still trying to catch my breath I ask the desk clerk "I'm leaving but a boy is going to come here looking for me later can you give him a note for me?" The clerk just looks at me confused before handing me a piece of hotel stationary and a pen. I quickly write out:

_ Peeta,_

_Delly and Johanna had a fight and Johanna's gone. Delly is leaving and is forcing me along with her. Call me when you get this. 919-308-6180 _

_ Katniss_

I give the note to the clerk and he assures me he will get it to the boy looking for Katniss Everdeen. My heart rate is finally beginning to slow as I realize that I'm leaving Florida. I'm leaving Spring Break. But what hurts the most is I'm leaving Peeta. I slowly walk out the lobby and into Delly's car. As she pulls away I think I hear Peeta's loud truck behind us but when I turn around I only see a minivan full with a family. As we pull onto the highway with no word from Peeta I resign to rest my eyes. He'll call. I know he will.

We must've driven all through the day because I wake up from my nap, or sleep rather, when we've arrived back at Duke. I frantically search my purse for my phone. No missed calls. No voicemails. No texts. Nothing. Not a word from Peeta. The clerk said he would get the message to Peeta. Maybe he didn't come looking for me. Maybe he didn't care. I break down in tears right there in Delly's car. We sit in the parking lot as I cry. Delly doesn't show much compassion for me but I think that's because she doesn't know why I'm crying. She just sits there and holds my hand rubbing her thumb across my knuckles every so often. "Peeta didn't call" I finally whimper. "Is that why you're crying?" Delly asks. "Oh honey. It's spring break. Those boys never call once you leave. That's what gives spring break its mystique, its excitement." She pulls me in for an awkward hug over the gearshift and I continue to cry for a little longer.

A few days go by and I haven't heard from Peeta so I resign that Delly is right he was just a spring break fling. Classes begin back up and I return to my life as a student. Johanna finally returns but doesn't tell me where she went or why. She just tells me "I will never go anywhere with Delly again." They don't even talk to each other when they are in our room. I want life to return to normalcy but I can't help letting my mind wander to those two nights with Peeta. The surf shop, feeling his lips on mine. His truck, the campfire, the taste of beer on his lips. It all seemed so wonderful I can't believe he didn't even call to say goodbye. I'm caught daydreaming about Peeta in my chemistry lab on the first day back from break. My professor leans on my table and gently lets me know that spring break is over and it's time to get back to work. That was the moment I let him go. I'm here for a purpose, to get my degree and be successful on my own. I don't need any guy around, especially one I met on spring break. I finish my lab work thinking that I've put this all behind me. I gather my things and walk out of the building. Just as I am descending the building steps I see a beat up white truck in the drive. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." I mumble under my breath. As I get closer to the truck I notice that _Barefoot Blue Jean Night _is playing on the stereo. From where I'm standing I can't quite see into the cab but a piece of me deep down inside tells me to walk up and see who's inside. I approach the truck slowly at first then with a little more speed, almost jogging. But once I'm close enough I see who it is inside. I feel the biggest grin stretch across my face as I run to the driver side window. And there he is, beaming at me with his crooked little smile as he says "I told you I'd always come for you, Katniss Everdeen." I reach inside and pull him in for the most passionate and fevered kiss I've been waiting to give him. I know there are people staring at us but I don't care. I am falling in love with this boy in his truck. I break our kiss and run to the passenger side door and climb in. I lean in one more time and kiss Peeta again. As I lean back into my seat I tell Peeta "Fire it up, boy. Let's go get this thing stuck." And with the roar of his trucks engine Peeta takes my hand and we ride off into the distance knowing we'll never be apart again.


End file.
